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Peru – officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north byEcuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by thePacific Ocean. Peru is an extremely biodiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains vertically extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon Basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon river.

Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization in Caral, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima, which included most of its South American colonies. Ideas of political autonomy later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence, which was formally proclaimed in 1821. After the battle of Ayacucho, three years after proclamation, Peru ensured its independence. After achieving independence, the country remained in recession and kept a low military profile until an economic rise based on the extraction of raw and maritime materials struck the country, which ended shortly before the war of the Pacific. Subsequently, the country has undergone changes in government from oligarchic to democratic systems. Peru has gone through periods of political unrest and internal conflict as well as periods of stability and economic upswing.

The Peruvian population, estimated at 30.4 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans andAsians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.

Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. The Satrapy of Armenia was established in the 6th century BC, after the fall of Urartu. In the first century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in between late 3rd to early years of the 4th century (the official date is 301 AD), becoming the first Christian nation.” An Armenian principality and later a kingdom, known as Cilician Armenia, existed on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Between the 16th and early 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of Eastern Armenia and Western Armenia came under rule of the rivaling Ottoman and Persian Empires, passing between the two over the centuries. By the mid 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by Russia, while most of the western parts of the traditional Armenian homeland still remained under Ottoman rule. During World War I, the Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. After almost 600 years of statelessness, Armenia achieved Independence in 1918; however, the First Republic of Armenia, surrounded by hostile countries, was Sovietized in 1920. Between 1922 and 1991, Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991.

The Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world’s oldest national church, as the country’s primary religious establishment. Armenians have their own unique alphabet, which was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD.

This 4th edition of the GGEI is an in-depth look at how 60 countries perform in the global green economy, as well as how expert practitioners rank this performance and ranks based on perception.

Performance Rank

SCORE

1

Sweden

68.1

2

Norway

65.9

3

Costa Rica

64.2

4

Germany

63.6

5

Denmark

63.2

6

Switzerland

63.1

7

Austria

63

8

Finland

62.9

9

Iceland

62.6

10

Spain

59.2

11

Ireland

59

12

New Zealand

58.8

13

France

56.4

14

Colombia

56.1

15

Portugal

55.8

16

Peru

55.8

17

Kenya

55.4

18

Brazil

55.3

19

Chile

55.1

20

United Kingdom

54.6

21

Netherlands

54.2

22

Uruguay

54.1

23

Mauritius

51.5

24

Zambia

51.3

25

Italy

51.2

26

Ethiopia

50.6

27

Rwanda

50.4

28

United States

50.1

29

Canada

49.6

30

Taiwan

47.5

31

Mexico

47.4

32

Philippines

47.2

33

Israel

47

34

South Africa

46.8

35

Malaysia

46.4

36

Tanzania

46.2

37

Australia

46.1

38

Czech Republic

46

39

South Korea

45.6

40

United Arab Emirates

45.6

41

Burkina Faso

45.2

42

Cambodia

44.9

43

Turkey

44.8

44

Japan

44.6

45

Thailand

44.5

46

Ghana

44.5

47

Belgium

44.1

48

Argentina

43.8

49

India

43.4

50

Slovakia

43

51

Panama

41.5

52

Morocco

41.5

53

Mozambique

41

54

Indonesia

40.3

55

China

40.1

56

Poland

37.1

57

Senegal

33.4

58

Qatar

33.3

59

Vietnam

32.2

60

Mongolia

29.5

The perception survey for the 2014 GGEI was conducted from June through August 2014, and polled targeted respondents on how they assessed national green performance on the four main dimensions of Leadership & Climate Change, Efficiency Sectors, Markets & Investment, and Environment & Natural Capital.

Perception Rank

SCORE

1

Germany

93.6

2

Denmark

92.8

3

Sweden

90.2

4

Norway

84.8

5

Netherlands

84

6

United States

76.2

7

Japan

72.4

8

United Kingdom

71.6

9

Finland

70.2

10

Switzerland

67.8

11

Australia

66.3

12

Canada

63

13

China

61.6

14

Costa Rica

60.4

15

Brazil

59.7

16

India

56.1

17

Austria

55.1

18

New Zealand

52

19

Iceland

49.1

20

France

48.5

21

Spain

46.7

22

South Africa

45.8

23

South Korea

44.1

24

Israel

41.1

25

United Arab Emirates

40.3

26

Kenya

40

27

Malaysia

39.3

28

Mexico

37.1

29

Italy

36.1

30

Belgium

36

31

Indonesia

35.3

32

Peru

35

33

Ireland

34.3

34

Mauritius

34

35

Chile

33.5

36

Tanzania

33.3

37

Ethiopia

33.1

38

Philippines

33

39

Morocco

32.6

40

Portugal

32.5

41

Colombia

31.6

42

Poland

31.5

43

Qatar

31.2

44

Turkey

31.2

45

Vietnam

31.1

46

Taiwan

30.7

47

Argentina

30.2

48

Rwanda

30.1

49

Zambia

30

50

Mozambique

29.8

51

Thailand

29.3

52

Czech Republic

29.2

53

Cambodia

28.9

54

Ghana

28.7

55

Burkina Faso

28.5

56

Slovakia

28.2

57

Mongolia

27.7

58

Uruguay

27.6

59

Panama

27.4

60

Senegal

27.3

Germany (perception) and Sweden (performance) top the 2014 GGEI, confirming a trend observed in prior editions of strong results by Germany and the Nordic states. Besides performing well on both the economic and environmental areas of the GGEI, these nations display consistent green leadership and receive global recognition for it.

Covered for the first time in this edition, Costa Rica performs extremely well, ranking third on the GGEI performance measure behind Sweden and Norway and receiving strong recognition on the perception survey, an impressive result for such a small country.

Like in 2012, Copenhagen is the top green city as ranked by our survey of global experts, reinforcing the continued strength of the Danish green brand. Tracked for the first time this year, Vancouver and Singapore also rank in the top 10 of green cities.

Many of the fastest growing economies in the world rank poorly on the GGEI performance measure, highlighting an urgent need to reorient their economies to greener

There are concerning results related to more developed countries as well – notably Australia, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States – where perceptions of their green economic performance dramatically exceed their actual performance on the GGEI. These countries appear to receive more credit than they deserve, an information gap that requires further exploration.

Despite its leadership founding the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), South Korea continues not to register as a green country brand on our survey and performs poorly, ranked 39th out of 60 on this year’s GGEI. Despite better perception results, Japan also performs poorly on the 2014 GGEI, ranked 44th out of 60.

While the United Kingdom performs adequately in most areas of the GGEI, it doesn’t excel on any one topic, possibly due to inconsistent political rhetoric and policy related to green economy there. While gradually improving in each successive GGEI edition, the UK still lags behind its northern European and Nordic competitors.

The GGEI results reveal a similar observation for a variety of non-European states – including Ethiopia, Mauritius, Rwanda in Africa and Colombia, Chile and Peru in Latin America – again suggesting a need for these states to better position their green economies on the international stage.

Magnets always fascinate us and a favourite topic for many physics lovers. Magnets just not have the property to attract metals but also attracted the interests of modern day scientists. The principle of magnetism is been applied many utilities in our daily life.

Ever since the issue of global warming and fossil fuels popped up, the world is looking for an alternate energy. Transportation is one of the major factors when it comes to greenhouse gases.

How about using magnets for transportation? A transport without any fuel? without any emission? Is that possible?

Maglev Transportation is the first step towards a great future. Let us learn more about it.

What is Maglev?

Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a transport method that uses magnetic levitation to move vehicles without touching the ground. With maglev, a vehicle travels along a guideway using magnets to create both lift and propulsion, thereby reducing friction and allowing higher speeds.

When you were a kid, you might have tried to balance one magnet in the air using other magnets. The same basic principle is applied using electromagnetic (maglev) tracks.

The Differences

The big difference between a maglev train and a conventional train is that maglev trains do not have an engine — at least not the kind of engine used to pull typical train cars along steel tracks. The engine for maglev trains is rather inconspicuous. Instead of using fossil fuels, the magnetic field created by the electrified coils in the guideway walls and the track combine to propel the train.

Comparison with conventional trains

Maglev transport is non-contact and electric powered. It relies less or not at all on the wheels, bearings and axles common to wheeled rail systems.

Maintenance: Maglev trains currently in operation have demonstrated the need for minimal guideway maintenance. Vehicle maintenance is also minimal (based on hours of operation, rather than on speed or distance traveled). Traditional rail is subject to mechanical wear and tear that increases exponentially with speed, also increasing maintenance.

Weather: Maglev trains are little affected by snow, ice, severe cold, rain or high winds. However, they have not operated in the wide range of conditions that traditional friction-based rail systems have operated.[citation needed] Maglev vehicles accelerate and decelerate faster than mechanical systems regardless of the slickness of the guideway or the slope of the grade because they are non-contact systems.

Track: Maglev trains are not compatible with conventional track, and therefore require custom infrastructure for their entire route. By contrast conventional high-speed trains such as the TGV are able to run, albeit at reduced speeds, on existing rail infrastructure, thus reducing expenditure where new infrastructure would be particularly expensive (such as the final approaches to city terminals), or on extensions where traffic does not justify new infrastructure.

Weight: The electromagnets in many EMS and EDS designs require between 1 and 2 kilowatts per ton. The use of superconductor magnets can reduce the electromagnets’ energy consumption. A 50-ton Transrapid maglev vehicle can lift an additional 20 tons, for a total of 70 tons, which consumes 70-140 kW.[citation needed] Most energy use for the TRI is for propulsion and overcoming air resistance at speeds over 100 mph.[citation needed]

Weight loading: High speed rail requires more support and construction for its concentrated wheel loading. Maglev cars are lighter and distribute weight more evenly.

Noise: Because the major source of noise of a maglev train comes from displaced air rather than from wheels touching rails, maglev trains produce less noise than a conventional train at equivalent speeds. However, the psychoacoustic profile of the maglev may reduce this benefit: a study concluded that maglev noise should be rated like road traffic, while conventional trains experience a 5–10 dB “bonus”, as they are found less annoying at the same loudness level.

Braking: Braking and overhead wire wear have caused problems for the Fastech 360 rail Shinkansen. Maglev would eliminate these issues.

Magnet reliability: At higher temperatures magnets may fail. New alloys and manufacturing techniques have addressed this issue.

Control systems: No signalling systems are needed for high-speed rail, because such systems are computer controlled. Human operators cannot react fast enough to manage high-speed trains. High speed systems require dedicated rights of way and are usually elevated. Two maglev system microwave towers are in constant contact with trains. There is no need for train whistles or horns, either.

Terrain: Maglevs are able to ascend higher grades, offering more routing flexibility and reduced tunneling.

Comparison with aircraft

Differences between airplane and maglev travel:

Efficiency: For maglev systems the lift-to-drag ratio can exceed that of aircraft (for example Inductrack can approach 200:1 at high speed, far higher than any aircraft). This can make maglev more efficient per kilometer. However, at high cruising speeds, aerodynamic drag is much larger than lift-induced drag. Jets take advantage of low air density at high altitudes to significantly reduce air drag. Hence despite their lift-to-drag ratio disadvantage, they can travel more efficiently at high speeds than maglev trains that operate at sea level.

Routing: While aircraft can theoretically take any route between points, commercial air routes are rigidly defined. Maglevs offer competitive journey times over distances of 800 kilometres (500 miles) or less. Additionally, maglevs can easily serve intermediate destinations.

Availability: Maglevs are little affected by weather.

Safety: Maglevs offer a significant safety margin since maglevs do not crash into other maglevs or leave their guideways.

Travel time: Maglevs do not face the extended security protocols faced by air travelers nor is time consumed for taxiing, or for queuing for take-off and landing.

Despite decades of research and development, only two commercial maglev transport systems are in operation, with two others under construction. The highest recorded maglev speed is 603 km/h (375 mph), achieved in Japan by JR Central’s L0 superconducting Maglev on 2015 April,21. The Japanese trains use super-cooled, superconducting electromagnets. This kind of electromagnet can conduct electricity even after the power supply has been shut off.

The country comprises an archipelago of more than 332 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited, and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The farthest island is Onu-i-Lau. The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 860,000. The capital and largest city, Suva, is on Viti Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu’s coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres like Nadi (tourism) or Lautoka (sugar cane industry). Viti Levu’s interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain.

The majority of Fiji’s islands were formed through volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Today, some geothermal activity still occurs on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch and the British explored Fiji, which was a Crown Colony until 1970, this administration lasting almost a century. During World War II, thousands of Fijians volunteered to aid in Allied efforts via their attachment to the New Zealand and Australian army units. The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) consist of land and naval units.

Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific island realm due to an abundance of forest, mineral, and fish resources. Today, the main sources of foreign exchange are its tourist industry and sugar exports. The country’s currency is the Fijian dollar.